I personally agree that retail cards are in a large part nonsense. It pisses me off to think of how many killer cards are wasted on kids or (as I've been told my retail employees) thrown away as boxes get "damaged" or sit there for too long. I've spent probably over $15K opening packs/boxes b/c it's just so much more fun that buying singles, and the 6 best cards I've probably ever pulled were out of single retail packs, not even blasters.

I got a Reggie Bush/Earl Campbell DUAL AU /10 in '06 I still have, a Ken Griffey Jr WBC Patch /8 in '06 that sold for $1600 & a Sid Luckman cut AU /3 that sold for over $2000. These were all out of single packs at a local Pamida (red-neck run down version of Wal-Mart in a town w/ a population under 800.)

At a Wal-mart 45 miles away in a town with a similar population, I got a 2007 Topps David Wright 1/1 AU, a Jack Morris buyback 1/1 AU, & a Golden Ticket signed football of the top 20 rookies of 2007 including Adrian Peterson.

With all of this, you can say that it would be ridiculous for me to hate on retail after pulling all of these, but with 1) the TONS of money spent at retail w/o even getting a Jersey card & 2) even the THOUGHT of some 5 yr old kid pulling one of these and what would end up happening to the card, I am TOTALLY against retail! Anyone agree?

I agree for all the reason other than it being bad if a kid hit something nice. Why would that upset me? While I would prefer it in my hands, if it gets the young people collecting, why should I be against it? Without the young people, there will be no one for us to pass a hobby on to. Just my opinion though, take it for what it's worth (less than 2 cents last I checked lol)

[Q]It pisses me off to think of how many killer cards are wasted on kids[/Q]

You'd be surprised to know that many people that collect started doing it as kids. You should also try and stop by a card show or card shop and watch a young kid open a few packs. Lastly, I challenge you to be a speaker at a grade school and give out baseball/football packs. See how excited the children get and be amazed that it's not about the money, because most of the time, it isn't.

(01-17-2012 01:37 AM)jumpman23com Wrote: [Q]It pisses me off to think of how many killer cards are wasted on kids[/Q]

You'd be surprised to know that many people that collect started doing it as kids. You should also try and stop by a card show or card shop and watch a young kid open a few packs. Lastly, I challenge you to be a speaker at a grade school and give out baseball/football packs. See how excited the children get and be amazed that it's not about the money, because most of the time, it isn't.

I think I get what you are saying, even if it was worded poorly. The "cream of the crop" cards should be kept as hobby exclusive hits because the type of collector that buys hobby boxes are more inclined to be more serious collectors. More serious collectors are more inclined to preserve those one of a kind cards as opposed to putting them in your bicycle spokes to make motorcycle noises as I used to do.

While I agree that those cards should be protected and it would be a shame for them to go to someone who would not appreciate them as much as I do, I disagree with the assumption that they are "wasted". As far as I am concerned, once you pay for that pack, the card is yours. Use it for target practice with a BB gun for all I care. (Which I also used to do with any Packers/Cowboys cards, haha)

In any case, I think hits like that in retail are what moves a lot of collectors/kids into more serious collectors as they get older and have a lot more disposable income. That's what happened to me. I bought the cheapest of the cheap retail packs when I was a kid hoping for something nice. Now that I am older and have more money, I have a different strategy. But retail is still important. It's the gateway drug that gets kids hooked, haha.

I agree with him. But I think u guys misunderstand what he means. All these kids you guys are talking about know about hobby and have been to shops and whatnot. Thats great that they are into the hobby. Wha he is talking about is the kids who collect pokemon cards and advisement grab a few football packs, pull a newton auto, and throw it in the trash eventually cause they don't care. I agree cause if there were no hits in retail, that wouldn't happen, but kids can still go t the lcs if they are interested and understand how things work. My daughter is 3 and I have 2 collections for her. 1 that I keep in mag cases and one of base that she plays with, kids play with cards all the time and I agree that big hits shouldnt be played with , or even given the chance to be treated this way.

(01-17-2012 10:38 AM)cody_allen Wrote: I agree with him. But I think u guys misunderstand what he means. All these kids you guys are talking about know about hobby and have been to shops and whatnot. Thats great that they are into the hobby. Wha he is talking about is the kids who collect pokemon cards and advisement grab a few football packs, pull a newton auto, and throw it in the trash eventually cause they don't care. I agree cause if there were no hits in retail, that wouldn't happen, but kids can still go t the lcs if they are interested and understand how things work. My daughter is 3 and I have 2 collections for her. 1 that I keep in mag cases and one of base that she plays with, kids play with cards all the time and I agree that big hits shouldnt be played with , or even given the chance to be treated this way.

my $.02 ..... there are a lot of kids that blow their allowances on cards (whether it be $10-$20) on trading cards of all types.

while as adults this may be a paltry sum, to them it's everything they have ..... why shouldn't their purchases share the same reward as ours ???

Topps, Panini, and other companies have really made a push at the retail level ..... why ??? because this is their grassroots level, the kids

If only adults collect who will carry on our passion ???

I'm glad your trying to carry on your collecting with your daughter we have a few "father/daughter" collectors here

do you not want her to be able to pull that "Cam Newton" auto when she gets old enough to understand and appreciate its value ???

it saddens me how little some want to pass this hobby on sometimes, I feel "greed" has really taken over this hobby